Chippenham Museum

The museum sits right in Chippenham town centre, which means you won't need to trek far from the high street to find it. Inside, you get the local history of the town laid out across a handful of rooms - nothing massive, but enough to understand how Chippenham grew from a Saxon settlement into a proper market town. There's stuff on the textile industry, which was massive here, and if you're into that sort of thing the industrial heritage side is genuinely interesting.

It's free to get in, which is the main thing going for it if you're staying at one of the caravan parks nearby like Plough Lane or Roe Deer Fields. You'll want to allow maybe 45 minutes to an hour here, possibly longer if someone in your group is really keen on local history. Kids might find it a bit dry unless they're already into that period, but it's not trying to be flashy anyway.

The real value comes if you're basing yourself in the area for a few days. Pair it with a walk around the town itself, and it makes sense of what you're looking at architecturally. On its own though, it's a rainy-day filler rather than a reason to change your plans. Fine for a quick stop, but don't expect to spend hours here.